Overview

• Kay and Matlack contend Trump’s second term moves away from traditional 20th-century fascism by actively dismantling state agencies instead of harnessing them under a unified party.
• They cite masked abductions of lawful foreign residents, unconstitutional deportations to El Salvador, the arrest of a congressional overseer and cuts to university funding as evidence of democratic erosion.
• The scholars describe the administration as a “free-for-all” marked by internal rivalries between advisers such as Elon Musk and Steve Bannon rather than a disciplined authoritarian movement.
• They argue Trump’s fixation on blaming the Biden administration for the 2020 election results highlights an incoherent executive vision that lacks a cohesive policy strategy.
• The Prospect article shifts the debate over Trump’s governance from labeling it fascist to viewing it as an extreme American-style push to shrink federal power at the expense of institutional stability.